In conversation with Obang Metho, executive director of the Anuak Justice Council and the Solidarity Movement for a New Ethiopia, Alemayehu G. Mariam discusses the forgotten genocide of the Anuak, ‘in solemn anticipation of the seventh anniversary’ of the massacres over the period 13–16 December.

The question isn’t ‘whether Ethiopians in America have reason to be thankful for the blessings of liberty and the opportunities they have to make material progress’, it is whether they should be thankful to the US for providing billions of dollars to Zenawi’s repressive dictatorship, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam.

Alemayehu G. Mariam remembers the victims of the June and November 2005 massacres in Addis Ababa, where hundreds of people were killed by police for protesting the result of the general election. The author examines the use of police brutality by the government of Meles Zenawi to silence political opposition. He argues that the culture of impunity must stop and that it is imperative that the world continue to bear witness to the killings. ‘The Ethiopian massacre victims now belong to the whol...read more

Alemayehu G. Mariam remembers the victims of the June and November 2005 massacres in Addis Ababa, where hundreds of people were killed by police for protesting the result of the general election. The author examines the use of police brutality by the government of Meles Zenawi to silence political opposition. He argues that the culture of impunity must stop and that it is imperative that the world continue to bear witness to the killings. ‘The Ethiopian massacre victims now belong to the whole of humanity,’ Mariam writes, remembering the men and women who died. ‘They must be remembered by all freedom-loving peoples throughout the world, not just Ethiopians.’

The Ethiopian government has gone back on their decision to ban distance learning programmes. Alemayehu G. Mariam says the lessons that should be learnt include a respect for the rule of law and the need for rational policy-making.

Western donors continue to hand out billions of dollars in ‘humanitarian’ and ‘economic’ aid to Ethiopia’s Zenawi regime each year, turning a blind eye to the fact that their handouts are propping up a repressive dictatorship, writes Al Mariam.

Alemayehu Mariam keeps coming back to Pambazuka News in his search for informed analysis on African current affairs. While Western countries have think tanks to debate important issues, Africans have Pambazuka News, he writes in his letter to celebrate Pambazuka News’ 500th issue.